2015 Football Recruiting

[VU2624]

Has anyone seen a roster for spring practices?

Is one typically published? I don't think there was one last year.

[VULB#62]

Has anyone seen a roster for spring practices?

Is one typically published? I don't think there was one last year.

I'm told that there will be a roster for the Spring game -- once the captains draft their players for the Brown and Gold teams.  There has been some non-participation in Spring ball by some players for academic reasons (i.e., getting their GPAs up) and some guys had to take the semester off for $$ reasons.

Weight Room Results Update:  It has paid dividends already.  Word is that a lot of the guys now really "look like D-I Players."

Class of 2015:  47 players have committed to Valpo for next fall so far. Believe it or not, there are still a couple of guys out there with VU offer letters who still haven't committed anywhere.  Part of the extended process is that with a non-scholarship program, for some it comes down to where a kid can get the best financial aid package and some schools are slower than others in doing that.

[talksalot]

The ANNOUNCER hopes there is a roster printed... preferably with names and numbers...   

I haven't see this posted here (for a while anyway)...    11am   Saturday April 18th.

[VULB#62]

Actually, I had to go to the Pioneer site      the week before the first scheduled practice to get the start date for spring ball and the date of the Spring Game.

[VU2624]

Has anyone seen a roster for spring practices?

Is one typically published? I don't think there was one last year.

I'm told that there will be a roster for the Spring game -- once the captains draft their players for the Brown and Gold teams.  There has been some non-participation in Spring ball by some players for academic reasons (i.e., getting their GPAs up) and some guys had to take the semester off for $$ reasons.

Weight Room Results Update:  It has paid dividends already.  Word is that a lot of the guys now really "look like D-I Players."

Class of 2015:  47 players have committed to Valpo for next fall so far. Believe it or not, there are still a couple of guys out there with VU offer letters who still haven't committed anywhere.  Part of the extended process is that with a non-scholarship program, for some it comes down to where a kid can get the best financial aid package and some schools are slower than others in doing that.

Roster last year was tweeted out a day or so prior to the game, as mentioned, once teams were drawn up. I'm not sure they'll do anything more than scrimmage offense vs. defense with no defined teams. There are some positions which are simply undermanned from a numbers point of view and can't support 2 rosters. I know this was what was out there as a strong probability prior to the start of spring practice. Don't know if that's changed. Hopefully there will be some name vs. number publication or perhaps simply a depth chart.

[IndyValpo]

Based on last years roster there should be close to 70 players back from last year. Does anyone know the actual number remaining? Who has left?  Also, I heard that Conner Smith, considered last years best recruited QB, who did not play, is with the team.

And finally, we added two more recruits yesterday.

[VULB#62]

Based on last years roster there should be close to 70 players back from last year. Does anyone know the actual number remaining? Who has left?  Also, I heard that Conner Smith, considered last years best recruited QB, who did not play, is with the team.

And finally, we added two more recruits yesterday.

The two newest are a DB and a WR.  Before that we added an OL, DL and a WR. RE: Conner Smith.  He was the first signee last year and then decided not to enroll.  Pretty big disappointment at the time.  But if he didn't burn up a year of eligibility somewhere else, he has 5 years left unless he comes in and wins the starting position. At 6'3", 220 he has the size and the arm.

70 returning   +   49  recruits   =  119 potential players.  That's incredible.  Do we have enough uniforms and gear? 

Realistically, I don't think all of the possible 70 returnees will return and I haven't heard which of last year's players are in that group. 

What I have heard is that John Guilford is tearing 'em up in practice and is impressing the staff.  John was a dominant player last season, so he must be taking his game up a notch or two.  That's good news.  Now we need to find 3 other DLs to complement him at or near that level.

[vu72]

Based on last years roster there should be close to 70 players back from last year. Does anyone know the actual number remaining? Who has left?  Also, I heard that Conner Smith, considered last years best recruited QB, who did not play, is with the team.

And finally, we added two more recruits yesterday.

The two newest are a DB and a WR.  Before that we added an OL, DL and a WR. RE: Conner Smith.  He was the first signee last year and then decided not to enroll.  Pretty big disappointment at the time.  But if he didn't burn up a year of eligibility somewhere else, he has 5 years left unless he comes in and wins the starting position. At 6'3", 220 he has the size and the arm.

70 returning   +   49  recruits   =  119 potential players.  That's incredible.  Do we have enough uniforms and gear? 

Realistically, I don't think all of the possible 70 returnees will return and I haven't heard which of last year's players are in that group. 

What I have heard is that John Guilford is tearing 'em up in practice and is impressing the staff.  John was a dominant player last season, so he must be taking his game up a notch or two.  That's good news.  Now we need to find 3 other DLs to complement him at or near that level.

When I was in Valpo for the basketball tourney, I had the chance to go across the street and visit with Coach C.  I asked about the quarterback situation and he basicly said that Ryan Clarke looked like the front runner.  He said that if you lined the candidates up side by side, in t-shirts and shorts, Ryan is just huge compared to the others.  At 6'5" 220 lbs., who was the long snapper last year, I can imagine that he is quite imposing.

[VULB#62]

That's interesting.  Ryan used up a full season at the LS position and didn't see any QB time on the field that I can recall.  But here's an up side:  having to snap, block and cover/tackle downfield on punts shows his grit.  Coach Cecchini likes a QB who can throw AND run and has a measure of toughness.  Watching Ben mature into that role last season is testimony to that.  Then there's Scott Staal (Jr., 6'4'', 215)  more passer than runner, and Dalton Stokes (RF, 6'0" 185) more runner than passer who are the other returnees.  Clark reminds me a lot of Butler's Matt Lancaster of two seasons ago who was all-everything in their PFL  title year.

[vu72]

That's interesting.  Ryan used up a full season at the LS position and didn't see any QB time on the field that I can recall.  But here's an up side:  having to snap, block and cover/tackle downfield on punts shows his grit.  Coach Cecchini likes a QB who can throw AND run and has a measure of toughness.  Watching Ben mature into that role last season is testimony to that.  Then there's Scott Staal (Jr., 6'4'', 215)  more passer than runner, and Dalton Stokes (RF, 6'0" 185) more runner than passer who are the other returnees.  Clark reminds me a lot of Butler's Matt Lancaster of two seasons ago who was all-everything in their PFL  title year.

That is essentially correct.  I just looked at the box scores and saw that Ryan had a few throws in the Homecoming game as well as the Dayton game. Scott was the backup, particularly early in the year, and most games Ben went the distance.  Don't we have some high powered freshman coming in as well?  Coach mentioned the local kid (Jacob Paliga, Chesterton) who flew under the radar as until his senior year was the backup to a D1 kid.  Then, his senior year, put up ridiculous numbers, taking his team to the state championship game.  As most schools had already focused in on kids when they were juniors, he was for the most part passed over.

[VULB#62]

That's interesting.  Ryan used up a full season at the LS position and didn't see any QB time on the field that I can recall.  But here's an up side:  having to snap, block and cover/tackle downfield on punts shows his grit.  Coach Cecchini likes a QB who can throw AND run and has a measure of toughness.  Watching Ben mature into that role last season is testimony to that.  Then there's Scott Staal (Jr., 6'4'', 215)  more passer than runner, and Dalton Stokes (RF, 6'0" 185) more runner than passer who are the other returnees.  Clark reminds me a lot of Butler's Matt Lancaster of two seasons ago who was all-everything in their PFL  title year.

That is essentially correct.  I just looked at the box scores and saw that Ryan had a few throws in the Homecoming game as well as the Dayton game. Scott was the backup, particularly early in the year, and most games Ben went the distance.  Don't we have some high powered freshman coming in as well?  Coach mentioned the local kid (Jacob Paliga, Chesterton) who flew under the radar as until his senior year was the backup to a D1 kid.  Then, his senior year, put up ridiculous numbers, taking his team to the state championship game.  As most schools had already focused in on kids when they were juniors, he was for the most part passed over.

Good that you checked back on Clarke.  And, yes, there are some expectations for Paliga (6-1, 175) from Andrean. For comparison, Ben Lehman played at 6-1, 200 last year and was not too shabby.  The only other 2015 QB recruit is Mikey Roth (6-0, 175) from Grand Rapids, MI, who appears to be a scrambler from the release notes on Twitter.

Here are the QBs going into August camp:

Ryan Clarke
Scott Staal
Dalton Stokes
Jacob Paliga
Mike Roth
Conner Smith (Rumored???)

[bluehorseshoe]

Low 50's for # players in Spring ball now, WR, OL and LB not deep, esp WR, it will be a scrimmage 4/18 due to roster size. Nice sized recruiting class, assume a 10-15% recruit attrition rate prior to Aug and a few more once things get rolling. 

[VU2624]

Comments over the last few posts. I don't think the number is 70 returners. Some guys listed on last years roster didn't make it through the season last year and aren't back for spring. The number is in the mid 50's which makes a likely number of just under 100 considering some of the recruits won't make it through. That's just reality.

Conner Smith is practicing. The QB will come from one of the four practicing now. Ryan Clarke doesn't appear as he would be labeled mobile. He can snap and run down the field to cover a kick but moving around behind center is a different animal. Stahl and Stokes have both looked decent. Stahl did last year as well at this time and then didn't play well when given the opportunity. I don't think there's much chance a true freshman is the QB with 3 weeks of summer camp to prepare in this offense. This isn't like the bigtime programs where you get the guy in there early and can get him ready to play.

One note is that Brandon Hall is not at Spring practice. Apparently with an ankle problem that I was told he had or is having surgery.

In today's scrimmage O looked better than it had the first week plus.

[VULB#62]

Thanks for the summary 2624. Good to hear that Smith is more than rumored. Did he enroll at the semester? Must have.

[IndyValpo]

Comments over the last few posts. I don't think the number is 70 returners. Some guys listed on last years roster didn't make it through the season last year and aren't back for spring. The number is in the mid 50's which makes a likely number of just under 100 considering some of the recruits won't make it through. That's just reality.

Why do we make it so hard to follow this team?  Guys dropped during last season and were listed the entire year?  Weeks of guys on the two deep that we know are injured, which by the way is always a challenge to find out about.  Players disappear for weeks with no mention, some return and apparently some quit. 

[bluehorseshoe]

Gotta agree with INDY...seems we should be getting better info regarding who is on team and where...esp on who returning prior to the team picture.

[vumsb]

There are 67 returning players (sophomore, junior, senior) and 50 new recruits.

[covufan]

There are 67 returning players (sophomore, junior, senior) and 50 new recruits.

Things will be competitive this spring and even more so this summer! 

Great retention and recruiting!

[VU2624]

There are 67 returning players (sophomore, junior, senior) and 50 new recruits.

Are you getting this from last years roster as far as the returners are concerned?

[VULB#62]

If it's from last fall's roster, then the number is probably too high.  I understand from one of the coaches that there are some absences due to academic concentration and financial hardship.

[VU2624]

The number is at least in the low 60's according to a reliable source. So the 67 number may be reasonable. Even with attrition from the recruiting class, that's a lot of players on the roster.

Last year a few players were asked not to come back to the team and some were asked not to come to camp. That was with a much smaller roster. There's going to be a lot of disappointed players over the next few months if some are asked to not return to the team and, likely, a fair number are not given camp invites.

[vumsb]

A vert reliable source has the number at 68 returning players (67 was a typo) currently on the roster.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[vu72]

Comments over the last few posts. I don't think the number is 70 returners. Some guys listed on last years roster didn't make it through the season last year and aren't back for spring. The number is in the mid 50's which makes a likely number of just under 100 h some of the recruits won't make it through. That's just reality.

Conner Smith is practicing. The QB will come from one of the four practicing now. Ryan Clarke doesn't appear as he would be labeled mobile. He can snap and run down the field to cover a kick but moving around behind center is a different animal. Stahl and Stokes have both looked decent. Stahl did last year as well at this time and then didn't play well when given the opportunity. I don't think there's much chance a true freshman is the QB with 3 weeks of summer camp to prepare in this offense. This isn't like the bigtime programs where you get the guy in there early and can get him ready to play.

One note is that Brandon Hall is not at Spring practice. Apparently with an ankle problem that I was told he had or is having surgery.

In today's scrimmage O looked better than it had the first week plus.

Somebody help me out here.  Is this the Conner Smith that played quarterback at Colorado State and was the 12th rated quarterback in the State of Texas??

[IndyValpo]

Comments over the last few posts. I don't think the number is 70 returners. Some guys listed on last years roster didn't make it through the season last year and aren't back for spring. The number is in the mid 50's which makes a likely number of just under 100 h some of the recruits won't make it through. That's just reality.

Conner Smith is practicing. The QB will come from one of the four practicing now. Ryan Clarke doesn't appear as he would be labeled mobile. He can snap and run down the field to cover a kick but moving around behind center is a different animal. Stahl and Stokes have both looked decent. Stahl did last year as well at this time and then didn't play well when given the opportunity. I don't think there's much chance a true freshman is the QB with 3 weeks of summer camp to prepare in this offense. This isn't like the bigtime programs where you get the guy in there early and can get him ready to play.

One note is that Brandon Hall is not at Spring practice. Apparently with an ankle problem that I was told he had or is having surgery.

In today's scrimmage O looked better than it had the first week plus.

Somebody help me out here.  Is this the Conner Smith that played quarterback at Colorado State and was the 12th rated quarterback in the State of Texas??

He was our first named recruit last season from Indianapolis who did not enroll.

[VULB#62]

Go to the Valpo football Twitter site and go back to the 2014 recruiting class pages. He was the first tweet in the recruit releases. You can see his Hudl tapes there.